Here is the latest on several free agent situations around the league:
- While not technically a free agent, Masahiro Tanaka can still be signed by any club that is also willing to pay his $20MM posting fee. Reports out of Japan indicate that the Yankees and Dodgers are the favorites to land the 25-year-old righty, tweets David Waldstein of the New York Times, with Tanaka's wife reportedly interested in landing on the West Coast. The Angels are also said to be among the top suitors for Tanaka's services, says MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez (referencing a recent report from Japanese outlet Sports Hochi).
- The Orioles, Twins, and Yankees recently asked for medicals on righty Ervin Santana, reports FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. (Links to Twitter.) New York appears only to be performing due diligence, says Rosenthal, who notes that Santana's flyball tendencies make him a poor fit at Yankee Stadium. Meanwhile, the Twins seem unlikely to add another free agent starter, Rosenthal adds.
- There are at least five clubs that "have been in on" infielder/DH Mark Reynolds, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). The teams include the Nationals, Rangers, Twins, Orioles, and Yankees.
- Right-handed starter Scott Baker has several minor league offers in hand but is holding out for a guaranteed MLB deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. The Twins have not been interested in a reunion thus far, Wolfson adds.
- Another former Twin who spent time with the Cubs last year, right-handed reliever Matt Guerrier, is set to throw off of a mound on Friday as he rehabs from an elbow injury suffered late last year, Wolfson tweets. Minnesota is interested in potentially bringing him back, according to Wolfson.
“with Tanaka’s wife reportedly interested in landing on the West Coast.”
we all know that whatever the wife wants the wife gets…..
Just ask Cliff Lee
and Johnny Damon when his wife wanted to live in Chicago and he chose the Tigers instead.
Those cities are not that far apart to make a big difference.
in this case, it is for her career in Entertainment. so, there is a good chance it happens
Because there’s no entertainment industry in New York City?
Or why don’t you ask CC Sabathia who wanted to be on the West Coast as well.
McCourt owned the Dodgers at the time , but people forget. Otherwise the money/determination would have equal to the Yankees offer and CC would have been a Dodger.
Hmmm. Had no idea the Dodgers had interest. Thought it came down to Giants (who offered a good amount as well) or the Yankees. I’ll take your word for it though
Its whatever the Yankees want, they get
Correction: the yankees have wanted a players and have seen them go elsewhere (Cano,Choo) but they haven’t been out of desperation like they are for Tanaka. Just for clarification.
Cano only wanted the money, Yankees were smart on not resigning him. He’ll be way overpriced in acouple years and not worth it.
Choo and boras felt they could get more money so that’s why they said no. But they were wrong and actually ended up signing a lower deal.
I think boras evaluated the risk and still ended up getting the better deal. TX has no state tax so I think he’s getting paid more than had he signed with NY
And they were smart to sign Ellsbury? The Yankees signed him for about $40 million too much because they could see they weren’t keeping Cano.
No. He ended up getting more money with Texas because taxes are cheaper there.
I never got the sense that the Yankees really wanted Choo. It was more that they were just doing their due diligence.
It seems like everyday a new team is being “eliminated” from being Tanaka suitors. But I wonder how accurate these reports are.
Very accurate.
How do you know? These are the same reporters who claimed Tanaka wouldn’t be posted.
Santana should end up with the Royals. I hope the Yanks realize Santana is a horrible pickup for them. Santana needs the Royals for their defense and park size and the Royals need him. Get it done!
I think they do realize it, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
I think tanaka is going to sign in the Korean league
Huh?
Not sure why the Yankees are considered so into this. They need rotation help, but they’ve bombed on Kei Igawa, Carl Pavano, A.J. Burnett, etc. Do they really need to outbid the Cubs or Dodgers for a prospect?
dodgers have a few pitchers ready within the next 2 years not sure why we wud sign tanaka. unless haren gets traded mid season only way i see it happening
The Dodgers are in the business of winning a World Series as soon as possible. Yeah, they want to build their farm system, but signing Tanaka won’t cost them any prospects. The bottom line is that if the Dodgers feel that Tanaka can truly be a difference-making, top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher, they will try to sign him. They don’t care that they already have 2 such starters. They would gladly take a third. They have so much money it’s crazy, and when you think of the McCourt years, where the payroll was about $100MM too low for the last couple of years, the new owners are just making up for lost time.
I understand what you mean but lets say zach lee has a breakout year and we sign tanaka for 2014. what are we gonna do with him then ? like i said i only see this happening is if they plan to trade haren but then why sign him in the first place ?
btw u give up 15MM and a roster spot for tanaka. and idk about u but our 40M roster seems a bit stretched out
Zach Lee simply would spend one more year of minor league seasoning. And if he’s really throwing well, perhaps he can be a bullpen piece during the stretch run and playoffs. There is also the chance he could make starts this season if there were an injury. And then next year, you install him as your fifth starter.
For some weird reason I see the halos signing him. Going up against darvis in the al west would be great to see angels/ rangers….. Darvis vs tanaka its just to good of a fit. Arte has money and is willimg to spend when its worth it.. Idk maybe its just me
It’s just you.
Well it seems to be him aswell cause their in the mix to land him so ur wrong
The Angels need Tanaka more than most. The Yankees and perhaps the Mariners and Cubs are the only high market teams that actually need him and can afford him at the same time. The Dodgers don’t need him at all.
I can see it happening just as much as I can see him going to the Yankees.
If the Halos sign Tanaka, they can kiss Trout goodbye.
how do you know that ? hes not a free agent till 2017 and they have alot of money coming off the books with weaver cj and wells so no i doubt they cant get him and sign trout next year
Trout is going to be asking for more money than Pujols easily, and if the Angels are going to be minus Weaver (their ace) and C.J. (the number two pitcher) then I also think their bigger issue at that point would be rotation help, even if they still have Tanaka at the time (assuming he is not a bust, and is not costing them over 20 million a season, and not been traded for anything.)
I’m so glad some of the fans on this thread are not working for Major League Baseball teams. It’s corrupt enough. Talk about putting the cherry on top…
I think CC’s wife also preferred the West Coast as well and now she loves New York. If it was really about simply living it up on the west, then I doubt the Yankees would be suitors right now. Between the Dodgers and Angels, he wouldn’t be short on big money teams. The fact the Yankees are still there means it’s “a goal not a mandate” lol.
Yes, I’m biased. But I’ve felt from the first that the Angels would sign Tanaka. The FA debacles of the past two years have smudged Moreno’s reputation. Everyone knows that the team is a good SP away from contending again in the AL West. And Tanaka, though a risk, is a young guy who fits what they are looking for perfectly.
Signing Tanaka would be the perfect supplement to the Trumbo trade and the Angels have the money to do it.
As a Dodger’s fan, I wouldn’t mind seeing Tanaka going to the Angels. Would make the Freeway series even more interesting.
For me, the big question about Tanaka going to the Dodgers is the risk factor. Do they NEED to take this kind of a risk for a starter?
Smudging Moreno’s reputation is a bit of a stretch. There was a lot of bad luck that happened in 2012, with Haren and CJ developing injuries and Santana having the worst year of his career. Had none of that occurred, the Angels would’ve made the playoffs in ’12; would’ve likely kept Haren and Santana (or one of the two); and would’ve been a much better team in ’13. And they’d likely be finished for the offseason already. Their problems are mostly on the pitching end. And their need for a SP like Tanaka is greater than most, especially among teams that can afford to sign him. So I can see them signing Tanaka as much as I can see him going to the Yankees. Then again, NY wants to stay under the luxury tax as well. But the Angels, Dodgers, and Yankees alike will all go over the threshold if they sign Tanaka. Or are the Dodgers already over the limit?
Everybody knows hes coming to the dodgers. Someone give me a good reason why he wouldn’t other than the money not being there which it is.
That not being the ace is not a good reason.
Its gonna be fun seein them lock up kershaw and hanley if they get tanaka cause their going to cost a good amout aka kershaw
Theyre already having trouble locking up Kershaw as it is.
After signing Tanaka they will have an even better relationship with Kershaws agent it might even help.
I tend to agree. As long as the Dodgers match the Yankees’ bid (which I think will not be an issue for them), then Tanaka should end up a Dodger.
My guess is Tanaka’s probably got it down to like 5 teams right now, but it will go down to the wire for the winner so we are still about a week and a half out.
Tanaka and his wife could easily afford both a Manhattan loft and a LA hillside mansion. As others have stated, I’m hoping the wife’s coastal preference leak is a leverage ploy to drive the price up on the Yankees. Even if his heart is already in LA or Anaheim, a huge Yankee offer can only help his financial prospects. And even then, maybe the tactic works too well and the Yanks offer is too much to pass on.
I’d like to think the Yankees still have a near coin-flip chance in this race.
The Yankees could drive up the price for the Dodgers then on that same logic.
I know there not listed here, but this makes me think the dbacks have a legimate chance of signing him. Granted we cant pay out the bucks dodgers and yanks are going to offer, but we have some bargining chips out on the table, A; he would be / have the chance to be the ace on the team. Dbacks have a decent shot at competing next season. (assuming kt doesnt further deplete the farm system. Although were not all the way on the west coast we are fairly close. If the angels are serious about trying to sign him I think it will come down to them and us (just my opinion) and before all you haters out there start we signed Randy Johnson and a few others. We havent been known to sign big / expensive players but i wouldnt count us out just yet.
Why can’t he just buy a house in la and pitch elsewhere? Its not that big of a deal, Kuroda does it. It really won’t matter if his house is near where he plays since he will be flying most of the time.
maybe you should call him and find out for everyone if that might be possible since you think thats his best option
Well obviously money won’t be an issue, and I could absolutely see him going to the Yanks. But I think the problem with what you said is that he’s going to be flying, his wife isn’t, and she’s the one that cares. From a money standpoint, it’s not a huge deal, but being separated from your spouse like that for the majority of the year is a big issue for some people. Like you said, Kuroda does it, but maybe Tanaka doesn’t really want to do it. Who knows, the only way we’ll find out is when he actually signs.